Statement of educational needs

[Lesley1311]

My little girl who lives with us under a special guardianship order, is six years old and has just gone into year two at her small village primary school. Last week we were asked if we would like the school to apply for an SEN for her as she was beginning to fall behind in some aspects of her learning, they said she had reached level P8 which,I understand is just below accessing the curriculum.
My little girll's learning difficulties have been diagnosed as mild to moderate by our local paediatric health team. She has an age appropriate reading age, her difficulties are in how she communicates with others - this can sometimes and only sometimes be a little disconnected, and how she accesses information that us given to her. She is a confident, self-assured and happy little girl. She has not been diagnosed with any condition, although her birth mother took drugs and did not have any ante-natal care and she also tried to starve herself during her pregnancy.
All my instincts tell me that I shouldn't accept the offer of an SEN, that in future her progress will be data led and not led by the child herself. When attending the school for a consultation evening at the end of July, we were told she was far too clever for a statement, but in a few weeks, something has changed and I must admit to feeling very confused.
I would be grateful for any input that could lessen my feeling of confusion.
Sine writing the above we have met with the SENCO. We asked who recommended our little Girl for a statement and were told the recommendation came from an outreach teacher who has never met our little Girl but has seen the results of an assessment carried out on her by another specialist teacher.

My goodness. Poor you. I'm not surprised you are so confused.

On balance, applying for a statement is a good thing as it brings more resources to the child, and those resources are protected in law.

However, it would be sensible to ask (preferably in writing) for a list of all of the reasons the SENCO feels she needs one, so YOU can be certain of the reasons, before going ahead.

There is almost no reason to NOT have a statement, but the reasons should be transparent and as her guardians you are entitled to understand the circumstances in which this was deemed necessary.

There's no reason why a child's progress would be data led just because she has a statement. On the contrary, a statement is about that child and her individual needs. If a child in Year 2 is still on P levels, I would say a statement might well be appropriate - it would mean she will get extra help at what is a really important stage in her education. She won't necessarily be statemented forever.

"All my instincts tell me that I shouldn't accept the offer of an SEN, that in future her progress will be data led and not led by the child herself"
No, that is not the case at all, a statement is about the child and that child's individual needs.

You were misled and badly so by school when you were told that your child was "far too clever" to receive a statement. That is clear indication that she actually needs a statement, her levels also indicate that she is not fully accessing the curriculum. You also need to think longer term; the Junior school environment can be very unforgiving if a child has any additional needs that are not being met.

Thankyou all for your input.
If as you say a statement is about the child and their needs, why were we offered the statement by an outreach teacher who had never met our child.

I suppose the outreach teacher suggested that school apply for a statutory assessment which might lead to a statement.

to actually get a statement, is a lenghy process (at least
26 weeks, often longer); either you or school need ti apply for statutort assessment. you don't just get one offered a statement iyswim.

as she is still on P levels in Y2, I would actually push/apply for statement myself to make sure your girls gets the right support.

I do think you have been misled by the information you have been given. P8 is just below National Curriculum levels; by the beginning of Year 2 a child should be at least at NC level 1 and ideally at the lower slopes of NC level 2. So dd is currently around two years behind and I would guess they want to put in the support to stop that getting worse. Bear in mind that the outreach teacher will be a specialist who is well used to interpreting the relevant data, and she won't have made this recommendation solely on the basis of data but having looked at all the reports and discussed it with the other specialist teacher.

It is also the case that no-one is offering a statement - what they are suggesting is statutory assessment, which might or might not lead to a statement but which will help in gathering together all the relevant information so that sensible decisions can be made at this stage. I don't see that you or your child have anything to lose by accepting.